Listomania! - 1975

1975 is most memorable because I made the acquaintance of one Steve Ross. We met in Bill Bettger's Vocal Music class at Montcalm S.S. in September '75. We had each been at the school for Grades 9 and 10, but ran in different crowds. I knew of Steve because he was one of the big stars on the wrestling team and he knew of me because I played on the basketball team. We bonded very quickly and had a lot of common interests, with music being the primary one. If memory serves me correctly, our first music conversation revolved around our opinions on Kiss' Dressed To Kill album. We found out that we had the same birthday, November 22nd, but as I constantly remind him, he's exactly 1 year older than I am. I first heard many of the artists on these lists at his house. I was just starting to branch out musically, whereas Steve's Mom was up on the latest good music and encouraged him to pursue this hobby. I spent a lot of my teenage years at his parents' place, listening to great music, having a lot of laughs, getting shit from his Dad for drumming on their armchair, and eating tons of his Mom's famous pepperoni sandwiches. I'm proud to say that through all these years, we are still the best of friends today, despite many changes and good and bad times. I also met my ex-wife that year in the same class and the 3 of us hung out every day that first year: more about that happy subject to come! This list is a who's who of what is now known as Classic Rock, but at the time these were new and exciting sounds and we rocked out hard to them. Here then is the list:

Top 10 Of 1975

10. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

As everybody reading this knows, this is the title cut from the album of the same name which was the highly anticipated follow-up to Dark Side Of The Moon. The sound of this record strays quite a distance from Dark Side. Most of the album, including this song, was about the mental breakdown of founding member Syd Barrett. The song is led by a beautifully played 12-string acoustic guitar by David Gilmour, who also handles the lead vocal. The lyrics were written by bassist Roger Waters and they deal with one of his favourite subjects, the feeling of alienation. It is a simple song and I always thought it was a great song to hear on nights when one was alone and stayed up way too late. "How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year." By the way, which one's Pink?

9. One Summer Dream - Electric Light Orchestra

This is the last song on their great Face The Music album. Steve was a huge fan of these guys and I recall him playing the previous album, Eldorado, a ton, especially the weird parts. Jeff Lynne had a rather obvious Beatles fetish and he indulges it openly here. The vocal is a great approximation of how Lennon would have sounded singing it and the chord progression has a familiar ring to it. I find this song just gorgeous, if maybe a trifle sentimental, but those who know me won't be surprised by my sentimental streak. Their trademark orchestration is all over this as well and they did it better than anybody else. The female background vocal rises above the ending just beautifully. "Deep waters flow, out to the sea, they never needed you or me." You mean we aren't that important?

8. Cortez The Killer - Neil Young & Crazy Horse

I'm really not sure if Crazy Horse cut their records live off the floor, but they sure do sound that way. There is never any doubt who the leader is though, as the other members lay low in the background and let Neil take them on a journey. This song is no exception, as he plays a 3 minutes-plus guitar solo as the lead in before the vocals start. Neil claims that Franco banned this song in Spain, but that may just be urban legend. This song is about the idyllic life the Aztecs lead until Cortez showed up and ruined everything with his forced subjugation and murderous ways. This isn't entirely historically accurate as the Aztecs sacrificed their own children to the Gods, amongst other atrocities. I usually take it to represent the struggle of any oppressed people against their oppressors and it works better that way. "He came dancing across the water, Cortez, Cortez. What a killer." What a killer line!

7. Meeting Across The River - Bruce Springsteen

I remember the ads in Rolling Stone when the Born To Run album was released, put out by Bruce's manager Jon Landau, with the slogan"I have seen rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen." I also remember working at Mother's Pizza and being invited by some of the "older" guys (they were all of 20 or so) to their apartment where they put this on the turntable and proclaimed it to be the greatest album ever. Yes, it was a ton of hype and I didn't really buy it at the time. I like Springsteen much more now than I did back then, although he is still more miss than hit with me. But, much like the Stones, when he hits it just right, he socks it out of the park. The title cut is a fantastic song, as are a couple of others on the record, but this ballad of a pair of losers trying to make it out of the rat race and onto Easy Street is a timeless story. The song plays like a film noir, with Randy Brecker's lovely, lonely trumpet and Roy Bittan's tickling of the ivories setting the proper mood. Bruce sings it with heaps of conviction, but without the overkill which he is sometimes prone to. Just a moving, sad song that any guy can relate to, knowing that the outcome isn't likely to be pretty for the 2 guys involved. "Well Cherry says she's gonna walk, 'cause she found out I took her radio and hocked it. But Eddie, man, she don't understand, that two grand's practically sitting here in my pocket." Beautiful losers....

6. Doctor Wu - Steely Dan

From the great Katy Lied album, this is such a great chorus that it is virtually impossible not to sing along. Again, this has Jeff Porcaro playing some fantastic jazzy drums and he is helped along by Donald Fagen and his signature piano playing. Legend has it that Fagen was a drug addict and sought treatment from a Dr. Wu who was a real doctor in New York City and he took that experience and wrote it into this song. The lyrics are right up there with anything he wrote too, but this tune belongs to Phil Woods and his brilliant alto sax. He runs it in and out all through the song and he must have been gobsmacked when he got the horn charts for this one. "Katy lies, you can see it in her eyes." Those damn womenfolk!

5. End Of The Line - Roxy Music

Well Steve, you were the final argument that made me choose Dream Home over Mother Of Pearl in the '73 list, but I must pick this song from the fantastic Siren album. I love the whole album and it was a difficult choice, but this is the song I enjoy listening to the most on that record. I adore the rhythm section here with their slow but groovy tempo which allows Bryan Ferry's great phrasing to ride along on top. The real kicker though is the violin playing by Eddie Jobson, the multi-instrumentalist who replaced Brian Eno after the 2nd album. The way he plays the solo makes it sound almost like a pedal steel guitar and it evokes the emotion Ferry is feeling about his lost love. You know that the suave Mr. Ferry won't be down for long though. "Had my share of winning, now my turn to lose." Only until the next supermodel went by!

4. Win - David Bowie

Another Bowie album, another iconic album cover. With this album, Young Americans, Bowie ditched the spaced-out glam rocker and took a complete left turn into Philly soulsville. He even appeared on the TV show Soul Train which until then was the provenance of black artists only. Win is a great, druggy slice of "plastic soul" as he called it. His cocaine habit was at its height as he was hanging out in L.A. with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson and hitting all the hot clubs on Sunset Strip. It is actually a very psychedelic song with its swirling strings and David Sanborn's wicked trilling saxophone. His new sideman Carlos Alomar's influence is all over this as well with his funky bass playing. The backing vocals featured a then unknown Luther Vandross, who rose to great fame soon after. "Someone like you should not be allowed to start any fires." Only you can prevent coke-induced forest fires!

3. Real Man - Todd Rundgren

Most of the album this is taken from, Initiation, is an exercise in synthesizer-driven progressive rock, but the melody of Real Man cannot be denied. It is the most "Todd-like" song on the record by far. And what a song! Full of hooks and soulful vocals, this was a big fave of mine and Steve's at the time. We especially loved it at the part when he drops way down low in his vocal register for the "way down inside me" part. For the first time, all the members of his band Utopia play on this record, forcing Todd to play nice and not hog all the instruments for himself. This ode to being a stand up guy still hits the spot for me! "Got my head in the sky and my mind knows what it wants but my body just drags me down." This is my mantra as I approach the big 5-0!

2. No More, No More - Aerosmith

From the opening hook of Joe Perry's great guitar playing, then the crunch of the band joining in, to Steven Tyler's awesome vocals, this is hands down my favourite tune by these guys from Boston. Aerosmith was a big deal back then, hailed as the successors to the Stones in the rock bad-boy department. They could rock and they had a fresh sound that was actually very danceable as well as appealing to the metal types. This baby just swings! This is the sound of a very good band hitting their peak. Toys In The Attic has a lot of famous songs on it, such as Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way, but nothing can touch this one. Their first 5 albums are quite good, nothing like the pap they put out in the '90s. Check them out if you like solid rhythmic rock and roll and see what I mean. " Baby I'm a dreamer, found my horse and carriage." Git along little dogie!

1. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

What a brilliant piece of music. This is the sound of camels loping across the desert. John Bonham's drums on this beast are so committed to my memory, I bet I can play it in my sleep! He is my favourite drummer ever because of songs like this. Unbelievable! Then there's one of Percy Plant's best ever vocals, the usual yeoman work on bass and string arrangements by John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page bringing the whole Eastern influence thing into play with his monster riffs. An amazing band they were, even if Q107 overplays them to the point of ridiculousness. Martina, who rocks out heavily to this song, and I once took a little drive out in the country around Delaware, ON one night armed with this on a cassette and a joint or 3 and had a very memorable time soundtracked by this tune. "All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground, And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land." Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel!